McGowan's Career-High 37 Lifts Spartans to Eighth Straight Win

Feb 16, 2008

YORK, PA-The York College men’s basketball team celebrated
senior day in fine fashion as the Spartans extended their win
streak to eight with an 84-77 win over Wesley College in Capital
Athletic Conference action on Saturday. With the win, the
Spartans capture the top seed in the upcoming CAC tournament
with their 12-2 league mark. The Spartans have a two game lead with
two games remaining in the season and they also hold a tiebreaker
with second place Mary Washington. York is now 17-6 overall after
starting the season 1-3. The Wolverines, who are the last team to
beat York, fall to 12-10 overall and 7-6 in their first year in the
green and white.

The Wolverines came out and took it to the Spartans early in the
game. After York tallied the opening bucket of the game, Wesley
outscored York 17-6 to take the nine point lead less than seven
minutes into the game. The Wolverines held onto the lead over the
next eight minutes but the green and white outscored Wesley 16-6
during that stretch to take a 24-23 lead on a Chad McGowan
(Dallastown, Pa./Dallastown) basket at the 5:15 mark.
After McGowan’s basket, there would be six lead changes and
three ties over the final five minutes of the half as the two teams
struggled for momentum. The Spartans got a McGowan lay up with 37
seconds left in the half to take a two point lead but Evan Martin
answered with a lay up at a tough angle with just two seconds left
in the half as the teams went to the break tied at 34.

Each team scored four points to open the second half and the
game was tied for the final time at 38 on a Rashawn Johnson
free throw just under two minutes into the half. The Spartans then
fashioned a 15-0 run that covered 5:06 and gave the green and white
control of the game. The run was kicked off by a pair Levi
Winters (Manchester, Pa./Northeastern) triples, continued
with five points from McGowan and then closed out with a
Pat Kelley (Davidsonville, Md./River Hill) lay up
and a Nate Lankford (York, Pa./West York)
jumper. Soon after, the lead grew to 16 on a McGowan three-point
play but the Wolverines, much to their credit, did not go away.

Wesley trimmed York’s lead to eight four times over the
next 10 minutes of the game. The final time came with 59 seconds
left as Alphonzo Wright drained a pair of free throws to trim the
York lead to 80-72. The Spartans then missed a pair of free throws
and Johnson further cut into the lead with his fourth triple of the
game. Sophomore Nick Brady (Hanover, Pa./Delone
Catholic) was fouled and drilled both free throws to push
the lead back to seven at 82-75. Wright cut it back to five with
two more free throws of his own with 35 seconds left but Brady and
McGowan each split a pair of free throws in the closing seconds,
providing for the final Spartan margin of victory.

McGowan made his final regular season appearance at
Wolf Gymnasium a memorable one as he netted a career-high 37
points while he also pulled in 12 rebounds for his ninth
double-double of the year. McGowan was 13-for-19 from the floor and
11-for-17 from the free throw line. He handed out two assists, had
one steal, and one big-time blocked shot near the end of the game
that brought the crowd to its feet. The 37 points eclipses his
previous career-high which was 34 and came on December 2, 2006 at
Salisbury University. Brady had a solid game with 17 points, five
rebounds, two assists and a pair of steals. Brady made two threes
and was a strong 7-for-8 from the free throw line. Lankford,
playing in his final regular season home game, added 12 points,
seven assists, three rebounds and a trio of steals to the Spartan
attack. Winters chipped in with 10 second-half points as his two
threes kick started the game-changing run for York. Winters added
six rebounds and a pair of assists for the green and white. Kelley
added a strong defensive effort including seven rebounds as he
continues to work back from his serious ankle injury from earlier
in the year.

Johnson led the Wolverines with 28 points as he was 10-for-22
from the floor including 4-for-9 from three. Johnson, who entered
the game tied with McGowan as the conference’s top scorer,
added nine rebounds, two assists and three steals in his 37 minutes
of action. James Stratton added 20 points for the Wolverines as he
was 7-for-16 from the field including 4-for-12 from three. Stratton
also had three rebounds, four assists and a steal for Wesley. Khyle
Nelson finished the game with a double-double as he had 10 points
and a team-high 10 rebounds despite just playing 22 minutes due to
first half foul trouble.

The Spartans finished the game shooting 51.7% from the
floor and 33.3% from three. The green and white went 19-for-31 for
the game from the free throw line. Wesley shot 35.6% from the field
and 9-for-28 (32.1%) from three. The Wolverines were a bit
better than York at the free throw line as they went 16-for-24
(66.7%). The Wolverines, for the second time this season, held an
edge on the glass as they out-rebounded York 46-44 for the game.
That advantage led to Wesley’s 30-11 edge in second chance
points but York finished the game with a big 42-22 advantage in
points in the paint.

The win gives York at least a share of their third regular
season championship in the last four years. If the Spartans capture
wins in one of their final two games, they will own the regular
season title outright.

The Spartans conclude their regular season with a pair of road
games as they head to Gallaudet on Wednesday night and Marymount a
week from today. Tip time on Wednesday from Washington, D.C. is set
for 8:00 pm while next Saturday’s game begins at 4:00 pm.